Elections for the Selangor legislative assembly will be conducted separately from the general election, breaking a long-standing tradition in Malaysia’s polls history.
The Pakatan Rakyat presidential council made the decision at its meeting today, citing “unresolved problems” with the state electoral rolls which is alleged to include thousands of dubious voters.
The council may also consider Penang's application to hold separate elections, said PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"We agree with (Selangor) Menteri Besar (Abdul) Khalid Ibrahim's views on not holding state elections along with the national elections as the Election Commission has not cleaned up the rolls," Anwar said.
"There are hundreds of thousands (of dubious voters) registered in Selangor, Federal Territory (of Kuala Lumpur) and Penang, and we are concerned as the EC had failed to react."
In Kelantan, said PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali, the menteri besar has agreed to hold the state polls together with the next general election.
“As for Kedah, we have yet to get feedback from the menteri besar,” he said.
[More to follow]
